Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Zoning in on New Homes

BEDFORD — Town leaders want to create more housing near the city's downtown area."Any vibrant downtown has additional housing around it," City Manager Bob Reid said.Officials hope to have multi-family housing units on Willis Street, just west of Broadway Avenue, an area which is zoned for industrial.Proposed zoning changes would allow business owners on Willis Street to sell their companies to businesses that aren't covered in the industrial zoning laws."Also, there is a one-year stipulation that, if you closed your doors as an industry, you would eventually lose that exemption as an industrial use," Reid said. "If you came back after one year and one day, you'd have to abide by the new zoning rules."So, for example, if an industry there closed for more than one year, it could no longer be permitted in the industrial zone. Reid said that is a city-wide ordinance, not just on Willis Street.Still, city officials are holding off on making the new zoning official.